I think the grand prix work “Social Mobiles” should have been made in Japan. I was dissatisfied with the fact that nobody in Japan could make that sort of work.

Social Mobiles consist of 5 types of GSM mobile phones called SoMo. This is for international digital use. It can be used in almost all countries except in Japan. Each SoMo has a unique character. For example, a receiver of one SoMo runs an electric current when a person talks. If he speaks loudly, he will feel an electric shock. One SoMo punishes a person who makes a crank call in public. One SoMo is can be used at an art museum or library because you can have a conversation by speaking quietly. One SoMo is almost like a flute and its chord is dials (it can be aware whether it is a good timing or not from reactions of people by making a sound of the flute.). The last SoMo can memorise a hitting sound of a telephone and tell a habit of that sound by vibration. As Jones imagined, people became aware of the status of mobile phones through SoMo.

“Real” is a key word and important in SoMo. This is a real work that works as a mobile phone and has functions above in the GSM network. Someone might have an electric shock at a Chinese cafe in Shanghai. Or someone might receive a knock sound from her boyfriend during a silent sunrise in Kilimanjaro Unfortunately, we cannot experience them in Japan. Almost all Japanese young artists can only design in a conceptual and physical way. They seem to believe that they will never be able to deal with a technical part without a big company’s assistance. However, unless you make it real by yourself, others will never evaluate you in Europe and America. That style is now a standard there.

The design of SoMo is not stylish because it is not thin, light and metallic. It might be because functions cannot be installed if it were too small. However, as Jones said, “I put love into a thing that has been cultivated for ages, and I tried to create a design that people can be fond to communicate.” This work has accomplished concepts that proposes solutions to problems with mobile phones.